100+ Caribbean Actors & Why it Matters
Last week, I spent a couple hours creating an IMDb List simply titled ‘Caribbean Actors’. The first entries were the members of the b/dscvrd SLATE directory. Then I did some research, added other actors who live both in the region and the diaspora: popular, emerging, and possible one act thespians who aren’t pursuing professional careers.
Why?
IMDb is a tool, a search engine, and so are its Lists. Content on the platform has the reach to show up as a top result in other search engines, like Google. The more views this list gets, the greater the chance of a high placement for search terms “Caribbean Actors” and “actors of Caribbean heritage”. The former spot is now held by results related to the cast of ‘P*rates of the Caribbean’. Ultimately, the success of this list means visibility for members of SLATE.
I added the final actor, number 100, and hit save.
Within seconds, my mind started running through the “what next”, “where’s the impact”, and “who cares” of not just the list, but all the work I’m doing with b/dscvrd. This is a daily internal and external conversation I have in many different forms. b/dscvrd is about visibility for actors of Caribbean heritage with the goal to get them booked in more meaningful roles, period, and especially roles for characters who represent their heritage. I’m hyper aware that our mission requires the attention and buy-in of the whole film and television industry, which isn’t a small task.
We’re also working adjacent to other brands like ours who are championing for authentic representation in film, media, and journalism. Many of them operate in the broader context of access, visibility and opportunities for BIPOC talent. This matters because our stories matter, Black stories matter. How Black stories are told matters. How our culture is portrayed through characters that are meant to represent us matter. Caribbean stories matter.
It isn’t enough that a Caribbean character is written, or even celebrated. Our specific cultural spirit, in all its layers, and the sanctity of our languages also matters. Who is chosen to portray us matters. These truths colour all the work we do.
As we built SLATE and talked to more working Caribbean actors about what they need to get to the next stage of their careers, this is what we learned. Actors need:
mentorship
exposure
roles with more depth
relationships with casting directors
managers & agents to represent them
community
And this is what we (our parent company Isle + Indies & b/dscvrd casting) are working towards. Our upcoming programming is being built on this feedback. We are here to help actors, who will become our members, build their careers. Our mission depends on their overall success and how marketable they when their names are brought up in the rooms that count.
It also depends heavily on the exposure actors may be missing. So, we’ll continue to explore other avenues to get eyes on our actors, and build the Caribbean Actors IMDb List until we can get it into the thousands or tens of thousands.
Drop us a note if you have actors we should add, or share SLATE with a Caribbean actors you know & encourage them to apply.
